About two weeks ago, my main account (@aaronworthing) was suspended from Twitter (I’m not calling it X, Elon) and today I got the good news: My account has been restored. I will share briefly how I got it back, so if you end up unjustly suspended, maybe you can rip off my techniques and get your account restored, too. Who knows?
Mind you, you know better than to think that any of this is legal advice, to the extent law is discussed at all. I’m just telling you what I said and you can take from it whatever you want.
So, let’s start with something I couldn’t report at the time I was suspended. Last time, I couldn’t show you the full Tweet that actually got me suspended because it was longer than 280 characters, and the email only showed me the first 280 characters. Still, my memory is pretty good and I think I did a good job capturing the gist of the original Tweet in my original post. Here’s that Tweet:
I know of at least three other accounts that have been suspended for reasons that don’t line up with reality
— (((Aaron Walker))) (@AaronWorthing) July 26, 2023
One woman was suspended for opposing abortion.
Another said that if somebody was maliciously blocking her in traffic while she is trying to get a sick child to the…
The cut off text says:
Another said that if somebody was maliciously blocking her in traffic while she is trying to get a sick child to the hospital that she would run that person over. BTW I am a lawyer and I can tell you that in many parts of America, that conduct would be 100% legal under the doctrine of necessity
Another account said that Hillary Clinton should be tried and executed for treason
None of those statements should result in a suspension. I wrote about it here:
I then provided a link to this post.
I did misremember about saying something like “check your local laws.” Looking back, I did say it in the post I linked to, so maybe that is where it came from? In any case, I apologize for my inaccuracy.
As for how I got out of suspension, it is hard to say for sure what finally worked. Twitter is not exactly transparent with this process. I believe I wrote five total appeals. I previously mentioned that “Helena Handbasket,” a.k.a. @BumpstockBarbie had been suspended and she credited writing around forty appeals with getting herself out of suspension. That might work both by potentially wearing down a particular person, or it might mean that more than one person would see the appeal, depending on how their appeals process works (and I have no idea how it works).
It might be a bit like how it works in low-level criminal law cases. Often there are around a dozen different attorneys in a local prosecutor’s office and who deals with which case is often rotated out. If I am representing a defendant, I might deal with lawyer A at one hearing, lawyer B at another, and then lawyer C at a third hearing. There are positives and negatives with that in law, but my point is that maybe it is similar with Twitter appeals. So, when you first appeal, maybe Gary is unpersuaded, but if you keep sending appeals, maybe Ann will see it and decide you are right.
But that’s just a guess. I’d like to think it is a reasonable guess, but take it for what it is worth.
And there might be another theory on why I was finally unsuspended. Maybe it is because I threatened them with legal action.
Mind you, I was never anything but polite. But this is what I wrote to them yesterday:
Dear Sir or Madam,
It has now been two weeks since you first suspended my account. I have written at least four appeals and apparently, none of them have even been heard. Indeed, you have not clearly indicated that you have received them. I have been patient, but my patience is coming to an end.
Since I write for a website that discusses occurrences on X/Twitter on a regular basis, this is interfering with my business.
At this point, I consider Twitter/X to be in breach of contract. I am a verified user, a subscriber to Twitter Blue. You promised me that I could speak freely on the topic of violence with the limitation that “You may not threaten, incite, glorify, or express desire for violence or harm.” I have done none of those things, and yet I am supposedly suspended for violent speech.
You have promised that I could appeal that decision. After two weeks, it is becoming clear that there is no appeal. It is apparently a false promise.
Furthermore, you continue to defame me by falsely claiming that my account has been suspended for breaking Twitter’s rules, when you know by now I have done no such thing.
I am giving you until close of business Friday to restore my account, or I start talking about legal action. This behavior is ridiculous and I have had enough.
If you have any questions, you can write to me at my associated email account ([omitted]@gmail.com) or call me at 703-[omitted].
Still, this behavior on the part of your company is ridiculous and you have until close of business tomorrow to reverse it.
Aaron J. Walker, Esq.
What I am doing here, by the way, is throwing in some legal code words. When I talk about it interfering with my business, I am alluding to the legal cause of action for “tortious interference with business relationships.” Naturally, when I point out that it is a breach of contract, it does suggest that if you are a Twitter Blue subscriber (I think now they call it “premium”) you might be able to argue that the promises of things like an appeals process and that you can speak freely as long as you don’t break the rules might have the force of law. Now, they will try to deny that, but it's worth a try. Finally, you can see I argued that by telling people that I was suspended for violating Twitter’s rules, they had defamed me. In theory, I can still sue them for that, but I’m not inclined to do so.
So, did they reverse it because they were threatened? Or did my more normal appeals where I nicely tried to explain to them why they were wrong just take a long time to work? I honestly don’t know. Here’s the entirety of their email announcing it:
Hello,
Our support team has reviewed your account and it appears we made an error. We’ve determined there was no violation and have restored your account to full functionality.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate you taking the time to submit your appeal request to us.
Thanks,
I am amused that apparently even they don’t want to call it X. Still, as you can see, they don’t give you any idea why they finally figured out they made an error, or even why it took so long.
But maybe you could borrow some of what I did as a roadmap to getting your account back, if you have been wrongfully suspended. I would never recommend jumping straight to threats of legal action, but building up to it might make sense and, ultimately, you have to do what feels right for you. Still, you probably want to make sure you are coming off as calm and reasonable, especially if you are being accused of violent speech or anything else that might make them wary. Even when I was communicating anger, it wasn’t out-of-control anger.
And in any case, if anything I said here helps you out, let me know! I would love to hear it.
